Lyndon LaRouche U.S. Presidential campaigns
Encyclopedia
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. is an American political activist and founder of a network of political committees, parties, and publications known collectively as the LaRouche movement...

's U.S. Presidential campaigns
were a staple of American politics between 1976 and 2004. LaRouche ran for president on eight consecutive occasions, a record for any candidate, and has tied Harold Stassen
Harold Stassen
Harold Edward Stassen was the 25th Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943. After service in World War II, from 1948 to 1953 he was president of the University of Pennsylvania...

's record as a perennial candidate
Perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is one who frequently runs for public office with a record of success that is infrequent, if existent at all. Perennial candidates are often either members of minority political parties or have political opinions that are not mainstream. They may run without any serious hope...

. LaRouche ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 seven times, beginning in 1980. His current Political Action Committee is called "LaRouche PAC."

1976

In 1971 LaRouche founded the U.S. Labor Party
U.S. Labor Party
The U.S. Labor Party was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees . It served as a vehicle for Lyndon LaRouche to run for President of the United States in 1976, but it also sponsored many candidates for local offices and Congressional and Senate seats between...

 as a vehicle for electoral politics. In 1976 he ran for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 as the U.S. Labor Party candidate, polling 40,043 votes (0.05%). According to LaRouche supporters, the major accomplishment of the campaign was the broadcast of a paid half-hour television address, which gave LaRouche the opportunity to air his views before a national audience. This was to become a regular feature of later campaigns during the 1980s and 1990s.

His platform included a reference to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...

: "Impeach Rocky to prevent imminent nuclear war".

1980

Since the autumn of 1979, LaRouche resigned from the U.S. Labor Party and founded the National Democratic Policy Committee (NDPC), a political action committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...

 whose name drew complaints from the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...

, who saw these efforts as infiltration.

LaRouche budgeted $150,000 for the first primary state, New Hampshire. That included air time on TV stations in overlapping markets such as Maine and Vermont, along with 1,928 radio advertisements on New Hampshire radio. LaRouche reportedly spent $4,000 on a half-hour broadcast on WBZ
WBZ
WBZ may refer to:* WBZ , the United States' first commercial radio station originally broadcast from Springfield, Massachusetts, now licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, United States...

, and a total of $24,200 on all TV spots in the state.

The Democratic National Committee asserted that LaRouche is not a Democrat, but the U.S. electoral system made it impossible for the party to prevent LaRouche followers entering Democratic primaries. LaRouche himself polled negligible vote totals, but continued to promote himself as a serious political candidate, a claim which was sometimes accepted by elements of the media and some political figures.

1984

Independent Democrats for LaRouche, a committee formed for the 1984 election, was found guilty in 1988 of soliciting loans in violation of Minnesota securities law, and was ordered to stop selling unregistered securities.

1988

In 1988 LaRouche and running mate Billy Davis received 25,082 votes, or 0.03% of the vote.
In Minnesota, LaRouche was listed on the ballot under the "National Economic Recovery" party and his vice-presidential candidate was Debra Hanania Freeman.

1992

In 1992, LaRouche became the second person in U.S. history (after Eugene Debs) to run for President from a prison cell although Debs was generally considered a serious candidate and was in jail for his political beliefs (against World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

) rather than for fraud. LaRouche's supporters argue that he was, in fact, in jail for his political beliefs (see LaRouche criminal trials).
Classical violinist Norbert Brainin
Norbert Brainin
Norbert Brainin, , was the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, one of the world's most highly regarded string quartets....

 performed a benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...

 on his behalf in Washington, D.C.; the Washington Post reviewer praised his musicianship while condemning his political message. LaRouche's running mate, who did the active campaigning, was the American Civil Rights Movement leader, Reverend James Bevel
James Bevel
James L. Bevel was an American minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:...

.

1996

Prior to the primaries the Chair of the Democratic National Party, Don Fowler, ruled that LaRouche "is not to be considered a qualified candidate for nomination of the Democratic Party for President" on account of LaRouche's "expressed political beliefs, including beliefs which are explicidy racist and anti-Semitic, and otherwise utterly contrary to the fundamental beliefs ... of the Democratic Party and ... on his past activities including exploitation of and defrauding contributors and voters." In subsequent primaries LaRouche received enough votes in Louisiana and Virginia to get one delegate from each state. When the state parties refused to award the delegates LaRouche sued in federal court, claiming a violation of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....

. After losing in the district court the case was appealed to the First District Court of Appeals, which sustained the lower court.

In 1999, however, a court ruled that the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...

 had the right to keep LaRouche from electing delegates to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...

, based on a party requirement that a Democratic nominee must be a registered voter. LaRouche, as a convicted felon, is not eligible to be a registered voter in the state of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, where he lives. (see United States v. LaRouche)

2000

A routine FEC
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...

 audit of the 2000 "LaRouche's Committee for a New Bretton Woods" campaign found that vendors whose sole client was Lyndon LaRouche had added unqualified "mark-up charges" to the bill submitted for matching funds. The vendors were American System Publications, Inc., Eastern States Distributors, Inc., EIR News Services, Inc., Hamilton Systems Distributors, Inc., Mid-West Circulation Corp., Southeast Literature Sales, Inc., and Southwest Literature Distributors, Inc. They had overbilled by $241,519 and the campaign was ordered to repay $222,034. The FEC decision was affirmed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

LaRouche qualified to win six delegates in the Arkansas Democratic primary. A minimum of 15% vote was required and LaRouche took 22%. However, the Democratic Party refused to grant him delegates because he was ineligible to vote.

He waged a campaign, begun in October 2002, to have Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

 dumped from the Republican ticket.

2004

Again, LaRouche gained negligible electoral support. However, according to the Federal Election Commission
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...

 statistics, LaRouche had more individual contributors to his 2004 Presidential Campaign than any other candidate, until the final quarter of the primary season, when John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 surpassed him. As of the April 15 filing, LaRouche had 7834 individual contributions, of those who have given cumulatively, $200 or more, as compared to 6257 for John Kerry, 5582 for John Edwards, 4090 for Howard Dean, and 2744 for Gephardt.

He ran even though his home state of Virginia is one of a handful of states which still has lifetime denial of the vote to ex-felons, which can be overturned only on appeal to the governor. (Neither the Constitution nor Federal statute law requires Presidents to be registered voters.) The Democratic Party did not consider his candidacy to be legitimate and ruled him ineligible to win delegates. He gained negligible electoral support. He was endorsed by two Democratic state representatives, Erik Fleming of Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 and Harold James of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, though Fleming later called the endorsement "the worst mistake of all." LaRouche was not one of the major candidates invited to the primary-season debates, although he did participate in some alternative forums for minor candidates.

LaRouche was present in Boston during the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...

 but did not attend the convention itself. His followers sang songs insulting Democratic nominee John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

. Later in the campaign his followers heckled Kerry and disrupted his rallies.

He held a media conference in which he declared his support for John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

 and pledged to mobilize his organization to help defeat George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 in the November presidential election.

Campaign statistics

Lyndon LaRouche political statistics (amounts in USD)(* off year campaign activity)
YearPartyRunning mateTotal funds raisedMatching fundsCampaign debtPrimary votesSources
1976 Labor Ronald Wayne Evans
1980 Dem $526,253 177,784
http://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
1984 Dem Billy Davis
Billy Davis (politician)
Billy Davis was a family farmer and attorney from Laurel, Mississippi associated with perennial candidate Lyndon LaRouche. Davis ran on the LaRouche platform for Governor of Mississippi in 1983. In the 1984 presidential election, Davis served as LaRouche's running mate...

$494,146 http://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
1988 Dem Debra Freeman $825,577 http://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
1992 Dem James Bevel
James Bevel
James L. Bevel was an American minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement who, as the Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference initiated, strategized, directed, and developed SCLC's three major successes of the era:...

$2,709,531 ineligible $2,223,985 http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_candpg.exe?DoFn=P60000452*1992http://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
1994* $1,154,623 $2,124,099 http://www.fecinfo.com
1996 Dem $4,304,184 $624,692 $2,079,927 496,423 http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_candpg.exe?DoFn=P60000452*1996http://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
1998* $138,424 $2,051,489 http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_candpg1.exe?DoFn=&CandID=P60000452
2000 Dem $4,898,362 $1,448,389 $2,471,918 327,928 http://www.fecinfo.comhttp://www.fec.gov/members/thomas/thomasarticle08.pdf
2002* $3,080,601 $2,360,261 http://www.fecinfo.com/cgi-win/x_candpg1.exe?DoFn=&CandID=P60000452
2004 Dem $10,255,464 $1,456,019 $3,217,890 http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/summary.asp?ID=N00002047
Total

since

1990
$23,814,604 $2,899,889 $18,881,195 http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/summary.asp?ID=N00002047&Cycle=All

Campaign committees

  • 1976 - Committee to Elect Lyndon LaRouche (1976 Committee)
  • 1980 - Citizens For LaRouche
  • 1984 - Independent Democrats for LaRouche
  • 1988 - Democrats For National Economic Recovery - LaRouche in 88
  • 1992 - Democrats For Economic Recovery-LaRouche in 92
  • 1996 - The Committee to Reverse the Accelerating Global Economic and Strategic Crisis: A LaRouche Exploratory Committee http://www.fec.gov/pages/larouche.htm
  • 2000 - LaRouche's Committee for a New Bretton Woods http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_L.shtml#larouche_92_1_3
  • 2004 - LaRouche in 2004

Unknown years
  • LaRouche Democratic Campaign
  • Texas Democrats to Draft LaRouche
  • LaRouche Campaign

FEC cases


FEC chronology 1979 - 1992

(Adapted from material at the FEC website.http://www.fec.gov/info/appone.htm)
  • August 23, 1979 - U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upholds the Commission's action in denying primary matching fund payments to Lyndon LaRouche, a candidate of the U.S. Labor Party, during the 1976 Presidential primary campaign. (613 F.2d 834 (D.C. Cir. 1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1074 (1980).)
  • December 18, 1979 - Lyndon LaRouche establishes eligibility to receive primary matching funds.
  • February 19, 1980 - U.S. Supreme Court denies a petition for certiorari in three cases brought by Lyndon LaRouche and Leroy Jones against the Commission. (444 U.S. 1074 (1980).)
  • April 17, 1980 - Commission terminates the primary matching fund eligibility of Lyndon LaRouche.
  • May 28, 1980 - Commission denies a request to re-establish matching fund eligibility for Lyndon LaRouche.
  • July 22, 1980 - U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirms the Commission's determination that Lyndon LaRouche failed to re-establish matching fund eligibility. (Gelman v. FEC, 631 F.2d 939 (D.C. Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 876 (1980).)
  • October 27, 1980 - U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rules that FEC must notify Citizens for LaRouche Committee of investigations involving contributors to 1980 LaRouche campaign. (Gelman v. FEC, Civil Action No. 80-2471.)
  • April 15, 1981 - Commission releases final audit report on Citizens for LaRouche (1980).
  • March 11, 1982 - District Court for the Southern District of New York grants preliminary injunction to plaintiffs in Dolbeare v. FEC, in which plaintiffs challenged FEC investigations of the 1980 Presidential primary campaign of Lyndon LaRouche. (No. 81 Civ. 4468-CLB (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 9, 1982)(unpublished opinion
    Non-publication
    Non-publication of opinions, or Unpublished opinions, are those decisions of courts that are not available for citation as precedent because the judges making the opinion deem the case as having less precedential value....

    ).) The LaRouche campaign alleged that the FEC had launched investigations to harass the campaign, producing a "chilling effect on the free association rights of the campaign's contributors," and that the FEC had gone beyond the prescribed scope of its investigations. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York barred the FEC from initiating any more investigations into the LaRouche campaign's 1980 Presidential primary activities until the pending enforcement actions were concluded, and auditing, or issuing depositions to, LaRouche campaign contributors unless the FEC simultaneously notified the LaRouche campaign of such actions.http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation_CCA_D.shtml
  • January 26, 1984 - Commission initially determines Democratic candidate Lyndon LaRouche ineligible for 1984 primary matching funds, based on violations involving his 1980 campaign. (See 4/12 below.)
  • April 12, 1984 - Lyndon LaRouche establishes eligibility to receive primary matching funds.
  • July 7, 1984 - Lyndon LaRouche becomes ineligible for matching funds.
  • October 29, 1985 - Commission releases audit report on 1984 Presidential primary campaign of Lyndon LaRouche.
  • March 24, 1988 - Lyndon H. LaRouche establishes eligibility to receive primary matching funds.
  • May 23, 1990 - FEC releases final audit report on LaRouche Democratic Campaign.
  • October 3, 1990 - LaRouche committee makes oral presentation contesting FEC audit report.
  • December 19, 1991 - Commission denies Lyndon LaRouche's eligibility to receive primary matching funds.
  • February 27, 1992 - FEC makes final determination denying matching funds to Lyndon LaRouche, for his 1992 Presidential campaign.
  • March 3, 1992 - Lyndon LaRouche and his campaign committee ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the Commission's decision to deny the campaign matching funds. (LaRouche v. FEC (No. 921100).)
  • September 17, 1992 - FEC makes final determination that the LaRouche Democratic Campaign repay $151,260 in federal funds for 1988 campaign.
  • October 22, 1992 - Lyndon LaRouche and LaRouche Democratic Campaign '88 petition U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the Commission's final repayment determination.

Other FEC cases

In 2004, the FEC dismissed a complaint filed by LaRouche associate Barbara M. Boyd against LaRouche Watch, an online forum, and Red Letter Press, a publishing house affiliated with the Freedom Socialist Party
Freedom Socialist Party
The Freedom Socialist Party is a socialist political party with a unique program of revolutionary feminism that emerged from a split in the United States Socialist Workers Party in 1966. It is currently a working class organization that works towards creating social justice and order for all...

. The Commission found "no reason to believe" that the forum was a political action committee, or that it was subsidized by Red Letter Press, as alleged by Boyd.

See also

  • Political views of Lyndon LaRouche
    Political views of Lyndon LaRouche
    Lyndon LaRouche and the LaRouche movement have expressed views on a wide variety of topics. The LaRouche movement is made up of activists who follow LaRouche's views....

  • LaRouche movement
    LaRouche movement
    The LaRouche movement is an international political and cultural network that promotes Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included scores of organizations and companies around the world. Their activities include campaigning, private intelligence gathering, and publishing numerous periodicals,...

    (includes information on other political organizing)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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